Maple sugaring season arrives. Sponsor a tree!

Wednesday

Feb 20, 2008 at 12:01 AM

Is there anyone out there who does not like maple syrup?

Is there anyone out there who does not like maple syrup?

This delicious sweetener comes from a natural source, sugar maple trees. Sugar maples produce great quantities of watery, sweet sap in late winter that, boiled and evaporated for many hours, yields a golden-brown syrup.

Now Pocono residents can enjoy the great outdoors and help produce local syrup by sponsoring a maple tree in the Sugarbush near Marshalls Creek. For $25, sponsors will receive a pint of fresh syrup, a certificate and, best of all, free admission to the Monroe County Environmental Education Center's Public Day Program at the site on March 1. There, they will see maple syrup in the making.

MCEEC has been collecting sap and making maple syrup for years now. It's part of the center's outreach to local schools and to the public. School and other groups will be visiting the Sugarbush by reservation in the coming weeks when the MCEEC staff highlights both nature and local history. Hundreds of years ago the Leni Lenape Indians did their own maple sugaring; today maple sugaring uses far more efficient sap collection and evaporation techniques. Sugarbush visitors follow paths through the Pocono woods, taking in the winter landscape, observing the process and savoring the sweet smell of syrup. Sponsors and other visitors on Public Day get the added bonus of sampling a pancake with maple syrup on it. Non-sponsors can attend Public Day, too, for a small fee.

Sponsorships help pay the costs of running the Sugarbush and support MCEEC's education programs. The MCEEC and Monroe County Conservation District staffs devote several weeks to the site during the sugaring season, tapping 150 maples, collecting the sap and supervising the boiling and evaporating process at the Sugar Shack. Sugarbush visitors get a feel for the hours syrup makers spend in the outdoors amid the Poconos' beautiful woodland views.

Friday, Feb. 22 is the deadline for maple tree sponsorships. Fill out the form below.

Your sponsorship supports a small but scenic portion of the Pocono woods and environmental education programs for today's and future generations of nature lovers.